Chasing Tail: A reader x shifters romance

Part 27

Y/N POV

Somehow, the next few days are both a blur and the longest of your life.

In one night, your mates have each dispatched the people who wronged them in the past and taken over leadership of their old community of shifters.

Ash transitions into the role smoothly and immediately. As soon as the battle is over, he's calling out orders. He has his pride's medic, who's both a surgeon in the human world and an expert on shifter medicine, check you over and treat your wounds right on the spot.

Cody seems less interested in taking up his new role as alpha. Which makes sense to you; he did say that he never intended to rule anyone.

He just holds you the entire time, as if he's worried that you'll dissolve right before his eyes if he ever lets you go again. While the medic applies a stinging salve to your cuts then wraps you up in antibacterial bandages, he strokes your hair and you murmur promises and reassurances to him, until you're not sure who's soothing whom.

Not that you're complaining. You just went through hell, and feared that you might never get to be with your loves again. So you're not too keen on letting either of them out of your sight again, either.

They insist that you go to a hospital immediately after, but you refuse. You don't currently have insurance, and besides, you hate the clinical setting of a cold, sterile hospital room. And you feel much better once the salve kicks in and your wounds are safely bandaged.

When your mates try to argue, you shut them down. All the other shifters still gathered around you in the courtyard watch the interaction with avid interest, studying you in particular. You get the sense that they're evaluating your dynamic with their new alphas, judging your worth and theirs.

These people are under your mates' protection now. They have a duty to their pack and pride, so by extension, you have to take responsibility for them, too. You're determined to earn their respect and be the kind of strong alpha mate that shifters can be proud of.

So, you lift your head and stand your ground.

In the end, Ash and Cody resolve to take you back to your old apartment, since it's in neutral ground outside both the pack's and pride's territories. Ash and Cody stay with you almost constantly, leaving only to take care of shifter business. The pack and pride are tentatively coming together, adjusting to the new reality of their leaders being so close, when just a short time ago they were all enemies. It's a strange new world for everyone involved.

You love having your mates around you while you recover. Your wounds heal shockingly fast—after just two days, every cut has scabbed over and closed. After three days, all that's left are fresh, pink scars marking your skin. Alexander, the pride medic, notes that you might share your mates' heightened healing ability now that you're bonded. A dual shifter-human bond is unprecedented, so the consequences are unpredictable. No one knows what other abilities you might develop as a result of the bond. You can't wait to find out.

There's just one problem.

Ash and Cody stay with you, taking care of you and showing their love with sweet, soft touches. Ash cooks for you, Cody cheers you up with silly jokes and kind gestures, and they both curl up with you at night as black cat and golden retriever like you used to.

But that's all they do. While you're healing, it's like they're walking on eggshells around you. They'll give you comforting touches, but as soon as you respond, they pull away. You've been through an ordeal. You almost lost them. Now, all you want is to be close to them, as close as humanly possible. You need to feel your mates pressed against you, moving inside you.